Talestack News - ISSUE 39
[December 16th - January 6th]
✒ Editor’s Note
Welcome back, Talestack Readers!
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It’s a NEW YEAR but the FICTION KEEPS FLOWING!
Happy 2025, everyone!! 🥳 We’ve made it to another year of Substack Fiction fun, and I’m so pleased to bring you this first issue of the new year with a well-rounded collection of announcements! New serials, finished projects, some awards-based news, and even some published works on the bookshelf. What a great way to kick off the year!
As always, please hype each other up in the comments. Go visit, explore, give virtual high-fives, and let your colleagues know that you’re with them.
Have a lovely week, and happy writing!
S.E. Reid Editor of Talestack News
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📣 Announcements!
Finished Projects:
- ’s latest paranormal mystery novella—and second tale in her Judith Temple mystery series—Beasts of the Field, has just concluded. Synopsis: “When Judith Temple, full-time software developer and part-time psychic detective, agrees to help Sheriff Tim Morrissey find a missing college student, she is confident that her psychic vision will bring the case to a close. The only problem is that Judith’s vision seems to be…wrong. Contending with skeptical police, hostile locals, and her own complicated emotions about the county sheriff, Judith must make sense of her visions and conflicting information about the case to find the missing girl before the trail goes cold.” Jump into Episode One here!
On a related note: the first tale in this series, Down In The Holler, will be heading behind the paywall TODAY! You can binge it all (editor’s note: do it!! it’s worth it!) by starting right here!
- has just concluded his serial novel, Mars In Retrograde. Synopsis: “Mars in Retrograde is a completed serial novel about a group of problematic misfits on the search for free will and sanctuary at the approaching end of the world, which may or may not be a metaphor.” Jump into Chapter One here!
- has just concluded the serialization of her fantasy book trilogy StormBreathers Saga. From A.J.: “The final chapter of that adventure lands in my subscribers’ inboxes on December 21st, finishing the year with a finished series!”
New Projects:
After the conclusion of the previous series,
is beginning a new fantasy serial called Lightscript Legends. Synopsis: “The world we know through eyes from an unknown world…In this ongoing series you will find shoulder angels and devils as you never imagined them, lives entangled across time by a timeless legend, and a Montana town steeped in untold stories.” Start with Episode One here!- has just begun serializing her novel called Mercy. Synopsis: “Scottsville's City Council wants to build community and a city to be proud of but to Isla Campbell, the city's New Business Liaison, all they are offering is a shiny band-aid on a gushing wound. She is annoyed that money equals quality of life in the eyes of her colleagues, but also embarrassed that they might see her as a member of the class they criticize. Isla is assisting kind, gentle, but impulsive yoga instructor Dave as he sets up a studio, but he increasingly has other priorities. As their personal and professional lives get sucked into a whirlpool of disarray, the question ‘are there places too dark for mercy to go?’ becomes increasingly relevant.” Get started with Chapter One here!
- is beginning a new dark fantasy serial novel called Knights of the Faerie Queens, posting every Friday. Synopsis: “A monster creeps along the edges of the Court boundaries, slaughtering any fey it can get its claws on. As the Knights of the faerie queens, it falls to Kestrel and Jasper to protect their courts. But in order to do so, they go against centuries of tradition and mistrust. In a wild, ancient forest entangled with secrets, they must unravel an ancient curse and stop the slaughter, before the monster’s next targets—the queens—are destroyed, and the safe havens of all fey with them.” Jump in with Chapter One!
Awards:
Congratulations to for winning the Macabre Monday Halloween Contest with her short story Talk To Me! The creepy crew at Macabre Monday put together a printable special edition zine as a prize, with designs by
and additional voiceover by (you can hire him for voice work here). Check it out, and subscribe to Macabre Monday for more horror community hijinks!- has shared his first post as the incoming captain of the Lunar Awards, outlining the new goals and structure for the coming awards season. Whether you’re a speculative fiction writer here on the platform—science fiction, fantasy, horror, and more—or a reader interested in finding new quality reads, you won’t want to miss what’s new over there!
Milestones & Wins:
Thanks to her recent marriage, Brooke Tiedt now has a new handle on Substack:
! From Brooke: “My Substack name and URL has changed from Brooke Tiedt to Brooke Stemme. More changes to come with rereleasing my books under my new name, but wanted to let people know any links they may have had to my content are likely broken, but they can still find me at Stories Shape Us.” Congratulations Brooke, and to everyone else: make sure you update your links!
📚 The Bookshelf
(Titles listed in order of release date.)
- ’s science fiction short story collection, To Worlds of Wonder, is now available for purchase on Amazon! (You can also read it for free through Kindle Unlimited.) Release Date: 12/26/24
- ’s historical mystery novel originally serialized on Substack, The Harvey Girl: Fool’s Treasure, is now available for purchase on Amazon! Release Date: 1/1/25
- ’s horror short story collection, What Dances In The Dark, is now available for preorder on Amazon! (Learn more about it here.) Release Date: 1/15/25
Got something you want us to publish? Have any questions, comments, or feedback? Send it all to:
talestack.editor@gmail.com
Looks like we have an epic start to 2025! 🎉🍾🥳
Thanks for including my book news! I love all the great Substacks and fiction you send our way! Brava!!!